Chapter 239 - 237: Fall Behind, and It’s All Too Late

Conrad Goodman’s expression was dark and cold. He looked at Quincy Sanders and asked again to confirm, "Where did you get this information? Is it accurate?"

’For a project this confidential, the Jennings Group should have waited until after the new product launched to announce it. How did he catch wind of this?’

Quincy Sanders quickly explained, "Well, Chairman, when I came back after the New Year holiday, I was having dinner with a few old classmates from my university department. One of them works on the Jennings Group’s AI project team. He got drunk and unintentionally told me about it."

"The timeline he described basically lines up with when you arranged for Paul Hudson’s Technology Team One to meet with them. If the project were to proceed to code testing, our Team Three would have definitely been involved, but we never received any notification. That’s how I deduced that Paul Hudson never made contact with their team at all, which led to the loss of this cutting-edge program."

"Supervisor Lawson of the tech division is Paul Hudson’s brother-in-law. I was afraid that if I reported this to him, he’d find a way to bury it. That’s why I dared to come and report this to you directly."

After hearing what Quincy Sanders had to say, Conrad Goodman’s expression turned frightfully grim.

The main issue was that when he had assigned this to Paul Hudson of Technology Team One, he had given a specific instruction: ’If the project doesn’t meet the Goodman Group’s standards, just reject it. If there’s no subsequent collaboration, you don’t need to fill me in on the details or the result.’

’How long has it been?’

Since he never heard any follow-up, he had just assumed that what Cecilia Sterling’s team had created wasn’t impressive enough for the Goodman Group, and the potential collaboration had long been terminated.

After all, from the very beginning, he’d had low expectations for this "ragtag team" of recent graduates.

’But low expectations were just his personal forecast. It didn’t mean the other party was actually incompetent, and it certainly didn’t mean an employee he’d given an order to could be so negligent as to not even do the job at all!’

This was dereliction of duty!

And it could very well cause the company enormous losses!

Conrad Goodman immediately called the tech division. He personally summoned Technology Supervisor Felix Lawson and Technology Team One Lead Paul Hudson to the chairman’s office.

"You can go back to your work for now."

Conrad Goodman sent Quincy Sanders away first to prevent the others from running into him and realizing he was the informant. Competition was fierce in a large company, and it was inevitable that such things would cause trouble.

Quincy Sanders nodded, then exited the office, pulling the door closed behind him.

Conrad Goodman’s blood boiled. He stood up and paced back and forth in his office.

Although the Jennings Group had only just ventured into the field of artificial intelligence, and a considerable gap existed between them and the industry-leading Goodman Group, Jennings had deep pockets. They had a nearly flawless track record in every sector they entered.

The fact that they were interested in Cecilia Sterling’s project proved that what her team created was by no means mediocre. It absolutely had its merits.

Conrad Goodman knew full well what the constant cycle of innovation and iteration in AI meant for the industry. There were no permanent leaders in this field. The so-called "leading" position was just a hollow title, precarious at best. The moment a competitor developed new technology, the Goodman Group’s status could be usurped at any time.

At this moment, Conrad Goodman’s worry echoed the words Cecilia Sterling had once said to Timothy Rowe: "The most frightening thing in this industry is falling behind!"

To fall behind others was to fall behind financially.

By then, it would be too late for everything!

But what puzzled Conrad Goodman even more was, they had a clear agreement, so why hadn’t the two parties met?

’Did Cecilia Sterling go back on her word and defect to the Jennings Group, or did something else go wrong?’

Conrad Goodman found it hard to believe Cecilia Sterling was untrustworthy; after all, he had been moved by her sincerity. And yet, when the collaboration fell through, Cecilia hadn’t come back to him to find a solution. Even Estelle hadn’t mentioned a single word about it.

That was what had led him to mistakenly assume the project itself wasn’t viable, and that’s why the deal had never been finalized!

At that thought, Conrad Goodman quickly picked up the phone on his desk and called his daughter.

「At the driving school.」

Estelle Goodman was completely focused on driving. Her sense of direction was terrible, which made driving a genuine struggle for her; the slightest lapse in concentration could easily lead to a mistake.

Across the entire practice course, the car crawling along like a tortoise was Estelle Goodman’s.

A moment later, because she was going so incredibly slow and the driving school’s car was rather old, the engine stalled.

"Huh?" Estelle Goodman looked around, confused. "Instructor, the car’s broken!"

The instructor in the passenger seat took a deep breath. His expression—a comical mix of exasperation and forced patience—was priceless. He tapped the ignition key. "The engine stalled. Restart it!"

"What? But it was running just fine. How could it stall? This car is such a piece of junk."

"It’s because you’re driving too slowly. If you keep learning at this pace, when are you ever going to get your license?"

Estelle Goodman blinked innocently. "Safety first, right? This course is so small. It’d be easy to get into an accident if I go too fast."

The Instructor: "..."

Just as Estelle Goodman was about to restart the engine, Charles Jennings suddenly walked over and knocked on her window.

She slowly rolled down the window, and before she could speak, Charles Jennings was already holding a phone out to her. "It’s Mr. Goodman."

Estelle Goodman was taken aback for a moment, then took the phone instinctively. "Dad?"

"Estelle." Conrad Goodman had no time for pleasantries and got straight to the point. "I need to ask you something. That project Cecilia Sterling wanted to collaborate on with the Goodman Group... why didn’t she ever meet with the people I arranged? Did she ever mention anything to you about it?"

Estelle Goodman thought for a moment after hearing his question, then answered earnestly, "That’s not right. She did go!"

Estelle Goodman remembered it very clearly, because the day Cecilia Sterling and her team went to the Goodman Group for the meeting was the same day as Mr. Lawson’s divorce hearing.

Cecilia Sterling had skipped the court hearing that day and went to the Goodman Group for the sake of her team!

After explaining this to her father, she voiced a sudden suspicion. "Dad, don’t tell me someone from the Goodman Group deliberately snubbed Cecilia, and that’s why she rejected the collaboration, is it?"

Since it was certain that Cecilia had gone, the fact they never met had to be the Goodman Group’s fault. Estelle’s suspicion was perfectly reasonable.

Conrad Goodman took a deep breath. "I understand. I need to handle a few things on my end first."

"Dad, I know Cecilia. She rarely asks anyone for help. For her to ask me to pull strings just to get a meeting with you for this project proves how important it was to her. If this really is the Goodman Group’s fault, I hope you’ll apologize to her, because she’s my best friend. Even if the Goodman Group was arrogant and looked down on her, she never said a single word about it to me."

Hearing his daughter’s words, a pang of guilt stirred within Conrad Goodman.

’He himself hadn’t paid much mind to the matter in the first place, which had indirectly led to this outcome. If he had taken it more seriously, things certainly wouldn’t have turned out this way.’

"Rest assured, I will get to the bottom of what happened. If it is the Goodman Group’s fault, I will apologize to Cecilia."